Gas disposal apparatus



Oct. 8, 1935. R, KENNA ET AL GAS DISPOSAL APPARATUS Filed Nov. 14, 1952 ATTORNEYS.

INVENTORr @JM %W M I I I garbage Patented Oct.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GAS DISPOSAL APPARATUS Richard Kenna and Matt G. Hallgren, Oakland, Calif.

Application November 14, 1932, Serial No. 642,756

1 Claim.

This invention relates to garbage disposal by incineration and is specially directed to means through which all the incineration of The main object smoke and gases produced by the garbage are eliminated. of the invention is to provide a means of incineration, in which the garbage is completely disposed of, and in which all the gases issuing from the burning garbage are either burned or absorbed in water, so that during incineration of the garbage, no gases are exhausted into the atmosphere.

Another object of the invention is to provide,

in addition to the regular incineration chamber,

an auxiliary incineration chamber for burning any gases issuing from the burning garbage which cannot be collected in water.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become appare nt as the following description is read on the drawing forming a part of this characters are us in which similar reference ed to indicate similar parts throughout the several views, of which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of apparatus which is shown in section.

incineration,

d to carry out our method of the view being partly Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section through a modified form of gas burner.

Our invention utilizes a system of incineration and gas elimination as is clearly indicated in Fig. l,

in which an incineration furnace I0 is provided with an agitating and conveying grate H, which is fed by a conveyor l2, which is in turn fed by superposed and opposed conveyor grates l3 and l4,'which conveyors l4, l3 and I2 successively run at increased speeds, so as to provide a complete and even distribution of the garbage before it and agitating grate I! in the furnace I8,

is deposited on the traveling the garbage being initially dumped on to the conveyor 43 and carried thereby to the grate l4.

Considerable heat will be produced by the burning garbage, yet due to the moisture content, additional heat will be required, and for this purpose external heating means is provided which may consist of a gas burner, or oil burner l5,

combustion area.

The furnace outlet l6 discharges into a U- shaped stack, the

leg H.

The leg 20 which connects lower end of one leg I1 of with an inner wall !8 providing I 8 and the I! is provided at the top with a U bend with the other leg 28 of the U-shaped stack, as is clearly indicated, and which other leg forms the downdraft and adsorption 2| and 122, over which a stream of water, ZS iSsuingf' from a pipe 24 flows successively over the senses baffles to the bottom of the leg 28, the gases passing through the veils of water 25 and dropping from one bafiie to the next, the surface water on the bafiies 21 also adsorbing certain constituents of thegasesas the gases pass downwardly through the leg 28. The leg 28 of the stack is gradually restricted in size from top to bottom, and is provided with an outlet 29, which is in communication with the intake of a centrifugal pump 30, which pump discharges the water received from the leg 28 through a pipe 3i to waste, thereby creating a draft, drawing the gases through outlet- IS.

A vent 32 communicates with the interior of the lower portion of the leg 28, from which any gases not adsorbed are permitted to escape through the escape conduit 33, a suitable valve being provided at 34 where it is desired to return the gases for rewashing, which may be done by gathering the 5 gases in conjunction with the fresh water supply, a to discharge with the water at 23. The water 23 is provided by a second centrifugal pump 35 which discharges through a pipe 36, through t1)- return bend 24, discharging as indicated at 2.3. 30

A second pipe 31, is in communication with the pipe 33 and with the intake of a pump, or wits, blower 38 which discharges into an auxiiary furnace 39 which is also provided with a bursa-r 40, for burning any unadsorbed gases received at'gy' the lower end 25 of the other leg 28 of the stack, the burned gases from this portion escaping through a stack 4 l, at which point the gases issuing will be substantially free of both smoke and odor. I i 4 It will be noted that the gases issuing from W stack 4| are at a very high temperature and that these gases may be utilized in any desired manner, such as for the purpose of heating water, or the gases may be returned to the furnace through the stack 44 whereby the heat will be absorbed by the garbage being transported on the conveying grates l4, l3 and I2, additional air for combustion being admitted either adjacent to the burner I5 or through the opening 45, suitable chain or other flexible curtain being provided for this opening as indicated at 46.

T It will be noted that the gases are drawn down to the lower end 25 of the leg 28, both by the stream of water passing over the baffles, by the vacuum created by cooling, condensation and adsorption, and also by the suction created by the pump 30, thereby providing the required draft for the furnace It].

A modication of the gas incinerator is shown 38 is connected to the incinerator by a pipe 4?, the incinerator comprising an outer shell 38 and an inner shell 59, the two shells being spaced 5 apart to provide a chamber therebetween, the

gases discharging from the pipe t! to a point at the top of this chamber and escaping therefrom through openings 50 formed at the bottom of the inner shell 49, so that the gases are discharged into the incinerator at a point below the burner 51, whereby the gases are compelled to flow directly through the sheet of flame issuing from the burner 55, thereby bringing every particle of the gas directly through the combustion zone. The products of combustion from the burner 5i, and the burnt gases issuing through the ports 50 escape through the stack 52, these gases being at a high temperature may be returned to the stack 44 on the garbage furnace or used for other heatipgpiwpcses, This type of furnace is preferred to that shown in Fig. 2, as it is more efficient in the complete combustion of the gases.

A suitable supporting structure '32 is provided for the other leg 28 of the stack, and suitable connections may be provided for returning the discharging water from the pipe 3i into the pipe 36 for re-use, where the amount of gas adsorbed in one cycle is not sufficient to saturate the water with the adsorptive gases.

The garbage is deposited on the conveyor 43 and carried through the curtain d5, dumping on to the conveying grate M where it is slowly conveyed, dumping oif the end 53 on to the head end of the conveyor l3, which conveyor l3 moves at an increased speed, carrying the garbage off the lower end thereof, dumping on to the head end of the grate l2, which moves at a speed greater than the conveyor 93, being discharged off the end 5 on to the conveying and agitating grate H and thence being carried over the forward end where it is deposited into asuitable 1 receptacle or chute 55, or on to a conveyorfor removal from the furnace. Y

1 The heat distribution from the burner l5, when 45 the discharge from the gas incinerator is not connected to the stack 44, is as follows: The flame from the burner i5 is projected over the grate i l ana also over the grate or conveyor i2, passing about the lower end of grate l3, thence between grates l3 and I 4, about the end 53, a portion of the heat. and gases escaping through the stack 44 which is connected to the updraft leg I! as indicated at 55, this stack at or connection 5t being provided with a suitable damper 5'! for proper control of the escape of gases at this point, the major portion of the gases escaping through the gas outlet it; into the updraft leg 51.

Where the outlet 45 or 52 of the gas incinerator is connected to the outlet i l, the stack 44 forms an intake for the distribution and drying section of the garbage incinerator, and the heated gases from the furnaces 39 or 48 pass downwardly through the stack 4d and about the ends of the conveyors l4 and I3, while the burner l5 projects the flame in a counter direction, the gases being all drawn through the outlet it into the updraft leg l'l, thereby the hot gases from the gas incinerating furnace are used to dry the garbage and in this way the-heat required from the burner I5 is considerably reduced.

The gases passing into the adsorption column through the outlet it or the discharge 5% are drawn about the return bend 2B, and about the series of baflies 2l--22 through the veils of water infigjinwhich the centrifugal pump or blower 26, certain constitutents of the gases being dissolved and others adsorbed in the water in their downward travel through the downdraft leg 28, the water being drawn ofi from the bottom 25 through the pipe 29 and pump 39, discharging to 5 waste through the pipe 3 l. The gases remaining escape through the .vent 32 and thence either through the vent pipe 33 to atmosphere, or are drawn from the vent pipe 33 by the centrifugal blower 38 to be discharged into the furnace 39 or 48, or are drawn into the intake of the pump 30 and discharged through the discharge outlet 3|, or they may be discharged through the pipe 36 and through the outlet 23 back to the head of the downdraft leg for retreatment.

It will be noted that the garbage is effectively presented to the flame within the combustion zone of the furnace it], being advanced toward the fire end for complete combustion, the gases escaping into the updraft leg of the stack, thence continuing down the downdraft leg, being drawn by means of the pumps which are in communication with the lower end of the downdraft leg of the stack, the gases passing successively in contact with each water surface, and thence through a water veil and continuing successively from one surface and water veil to the next, until the bottom of the stack is reached, in this way completing cooling the gases and adsorbing all soluble constituents in the water, and'after all the soluble constituents are dissolved in the Water, the gases are forwarded to the second combustion chamber which is provided with any suitable type of burner, preferably oil or gas, and retained at such a heat that all combustible constituents of the washed gas are-completely burned, thus completely eliminating the smoke and vapor nuisance of the usual garbage incinerator.

Having described an operative method and an operative structure, it will be understood that variations in structure which are consistent with the appended claim, may be resorted to without detracting from the spirit or scope of the invention, or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

We claim:

In a gas disposal apparatus, a stack of inverted U-shaped form providing an updraft arm and a downdraft arm having its' upper end communicating with the upper end of the updraft arm, the downdraft arm being tapered towards its lower end, a series of baiiies extending transversely in said downdraft arm and extending from opposed portions of its walls in vertical spaced relation to each other with the bafiies projecting from one wall portion overlapped by the bafiies extending from the opposed wall portion, a water supply pipe extending vertically of the stack externally thereof with its upper end extending into the stack over the upper bafiie, .a. pump having an outlet communicating with the lower end of said water pipe and an inlet tube communicating with the lower end of the downdraft arm, a waste water outlet being provided with the pump, a gas pipe leading from said inlet tube and extending upwardly externally of the downdraft arm, a bypass tube leading from said gas pipe into the downdraft arm below the lower one of said baflies in spaced relation to the lower end of the downdraft arm, and a valve in the gas pipe betweez its lower end and the by-pass tube for controlling flow through the gas pipe.

RICHARD KEN'NA. MA'IT G. HALLGREN. 

